Putting the Pieces Back Together
by Creek-IB-08
Summary: Three-quel to "Falling to Pieces" and "Picking up the Pieces". The continuing story of Booth regaining his memory. Warning: some major B/B fluffiness.


**Putting the Pieces Back Together**

**A Bones Fanfic**

**By Amanda**

**Three-quel to ****Falling to Pieces**** and ****Picking up the Pieces**

**Spoilers for all four seasons (I think), but most are vague. **

**No copyright infringement intended. I only own the story line.**

*~BONES~*

AN : I have reposted this with minor grammar and spelling errors fixed. If you have already read it there's no need to read it again. There have been no major changes.

*~BONES~*

**Warning: major fluffiness beyond this point.**

*~BONES~*

Later that night Booth awoke to find Bones curled awkwardly in the same uncomfortable chair she had occupied for the past five days. He took a moment to reflect on the fact that she had not left his side any longer than absolutely necessary since this whole thing began. It was hard to imagine that kind of connection and loyalty, but he was grateful for it. She shifted trying in vain to get comfortable. He shifted to the farthest part of the bed before softly calling out to her. She stirred but didn't wake so he tried again. This time she opened her eyes a fraction before asking agitatedly "What Booth?"

"You looked uncomfortable in the chair. Why don't you come lay up here with me?" he offered.

"Booth I can't do that. The bed is hardly big enough for you, let alone the both of us" she protested practically, though the thought of a bed, even a shared one, was very appealing.

"Aw, come on Bones. I made room. And I won't sleep if you insist on staying in that chair" he protested with his special smile.

She was quiet for a while just looking at him, making a list of pros and cons in her head. Finally she made up her mind and rose from the chair. In a few short steps she slipped into the bed and under the sheets he was holding up. He dropped the sheets over her and laid his arm over her hip pulling her closer to a more comfortable position for both of them. Just before he drifted back to sleep he heard her whisper her thanks.

*~BONES~*

Angela stopped by to see Booth and check if Brennan went home the previous night only to find the two curled comfortably in each other's arms, asleep. The smile that lit her face could have powered the hospital for a year and she was just able to stop the squeal erupting from her throat. She quickly took a picture with her phone before tuning on her heel and heading into work. She couldn't wait to talk to Bren and find out all the juicy details. And she wanted to lord it in front of the others that she had told them all along that it was just a matter of time. Now that she thought about it, she had about $300 dollars worth of bets to collect on. Her smile growing impossibly larger at the thought, she started her car and headed towards the Jeffersonian leaving a voicemail for Sweets to meet her there as soon as possible.

*~BONES~*

Booth woke reluctantly from the dream he was having. In reality, it was composed more of bits and pieces of disjucted memories than actual dreams. He clung to the last image that he saw before the pull of consciousness won out over sleep. In this fraction of a memory he stood outside in the snow with Parker and a lighted Christmas tree talking on the phone to Bones who was on the other side of a fence standing looking out at them from the window, her family surrounding her. In that moment she looked so happy it almost made up for the other images in his head. Ones of her sobbing into his shoulder in a barn, or burying a short lived but well loved pet, or kneeling on the ground her hands tied and suspended above her head a gag in her mouth. So much had happened to the two of them and it frustrated him that he could only remember fragments of them.

After some time, he took stock of his surroundings and was mildly surprised to find the woman who occupied his thoughts also occupied his arms. Somehow it felt anything but wrong or unnatural to wake like this. In fact, as far as he knew which granted still had a lot of holes, he had never been this content in his life. Realization came quickly, if unexpectedly, that he was in love with this woman who had been described as his partner and friend. He could feel it in his gut and could not for the life of him figure out why he had never acted on the feelings he was experiencing.

The answer to the question came to him in the stillness of the room though through clips of conversations and arguments. He had said something about a line, she was afraid of abandonment after both her parents and brother had walked out on her, he was afraid he'd put her or himself in danger by being distracted in the field, she didn't believe in marriage and didn't want kids, but she had changed her mind on the last point and asked him to father her child less than a week ago. In essence, they disagreed on too many things. On the other hand, as much as they disagreed and as much as they argued, they were stronger professionally and personally for their differences. As he felt her stir and begin to wake, he made a decision. When he was out of the hospital and had regained at least most of his memory, he was going to sit her down and present two arguments for why they should be together. The first would appeal to the ultra rational and logical side that she prided herself on; the second to the emotional side she attempted to hide from the world.

*~BONES~*

The first conscious thought that passed through Brennan's mind was that she was more comfortable and better rested than she had been in days. The second was that she was laying in Booth's hospital bed wrapped securely in his arms. A smile came unbidden to her lips and she refused to dwell too long on why that was. Instead she turned in his embrace and searched out his warm chocolate brown eyes. When she found them not only open but watching her intently she whispered an almost shy, "Morning Booth."

"Morning Bones. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes as a matter of fact I did. Thank you. What time is it anyway? I should probably get up" she stated as she moved to crawl from the bed. Reluctantly Booth let her go. Both immediately missed the contact as she once again took her place in the chair next to his bed. Grabbing her phone, Brennan noticed that she had two voicemail messages. The first was from the previous night; Rebecca was calling to tell her that she would be bringing Parker by today around lunch again. As she waited for the next message to play she informed Booth of the impending visit. The second message was clearly Angela, but Brennan had to listen to the message a second time to catch all of what was said.

Noticing her creased brow and the way she was looking at the phone Booth asked, "What's the matter Bones?"

"What?" Brennan questioned clearly caught off guard. "Oh, that was Angela. Apparently she is very proud of me, she is not too big of a person to say 'I told you so', and she wants 'all the juicy details'. I don't have a clue what she's talking about though." Shaking her head of the puzzling thoughts circling her mind, she turned her attention back to Booth. "So what should we do this morning?"

"Eat" was his simple reply. She laughed as she told him that she would go down and get some coffee and breakfast.

While she was gone, the doctor stopped in to inform Booth that barring any unexpected set backs or complications he could be released the next day, but that someone should stay with him for at least the first week he was home.

*~BONES~*

The rest of the day passed easily. The two friends ate and talked about everything for the four hours before Rebecca and Parker showed up. Sometimes she would start a story telling him about a case or an incident stopping every once and a while for him to add what he was able to pull from the memory banks. Sometimes he would remember something, a conversation or face, and would describe it to her and Bones would tell him the story behind what he remembered on his own.

They talked about everything from the case on Halloween when she dressed as Wonder Woman and he as a squint to the not so distant trip to China on which they solved a case but never got to step foot off the plane in China itself. They talked of the trip to England and his 'knighthood' and the trip to New Orleans when he saved her just by putting his faith in her. They talked of Gordon Gordon and Sweets and their differing takes on psychology. She reminded him of her 'family situation' and how he had arrested her father but never let that affect how he saw or treated her. They laughed over their punishment during that trial and how juvenile it seemed, like getting caught talking in class. They lamented over Zach and how he could fall under the influence of someone like the Gormogon. He teased her about 'Roxy' and the incident with the crystal meth. She in turn teased him about his fear of clowns and the 'horse fetish' case.

There were some things and some cases that she shied away from. Included in those were Howard Epps, the time they were blown up by Gormogon's apprentice, Agent Kenton, and both times they had had run ins with The Gravedigger. There were some images he didn't tell her about. He refused, at least for now, to reveal remembering how he felt when the team watched the clock reach zero and everyone gave up for a moment, the fear when after crawling out of the taxi she wasn't responding, her face just before he shot Kenton, him standing with the barrel of his gun in a gang leader's mouth, or his distraction when she was shot (even if it was only on the arm).

When around noon Parker and Rebecca showed up, Bones excused herself to go home and get cleaned up as well as to stop by the office and his apartment to get things they would need for the next couple of days.

*~BONES~*

Brennan first went to her apartment to get cleaned up and pack a small overnight bag. The next stop was Booth's. There she packed a change of clothes and toiletries for him to use before leaving the next day. Her last stop was the office. She made it to her office to pick up files she needed to sign off on before anyone noticed her. Her presence didn't go unnoticed for long though as Angela stealthily made her way into the office and shut the door behind her.

"So Sweetie, spill! What happened between you and Booth last night? Did he remember something special between you two or something? Did he suddenly confess his love for you? Did you kiss? Was it great?" Angela gushed as soon as she sat across from her friend's desk.

"I don't have any idea what you are talking about Angela. Why would you think that we kissed? And what did you mean in your message about 'I told you so'?"

Instead of answering verbally, Angela simply removed her phone from her pocket, pushed a couple of buttons, and handed it across the desk. Brennan looked at Angela skeptically before glancing down at the phone. What she saw on the screen surprised her. It was a picture of Booth and herself asleep that morning. She glanced back up at Angela and a light blush colored her cheeks. She had to admit it was a cute picture and they made a good looking couple, but it felt wrong somehow that such a personal moment between the two should be captured on 'film'. Even worse was the fact that Angela was the one who had taken the picture and her well meaning friend had probably already started to spread rumors around the lab.

"Ang, nothing happened last night" she protested. "He woke up and saw that I was uncomfortable sleeping in the chair so he let me share the bed. And yes he is starting to remember a lot more. We spent all morning 'remembering'" she stated with a small smile just lifting the corners of her lips.

"That's great. So what are you doing here? Shouldn't you still be at the hospital with Booth?"

"Parker and Rebecca are there now and I thought that would be a god time to get some stuff done. I don't want to leave him alone for too long right now. But the doctor said that he should be able to go home tomorrow."

"Can I let the others know?"

"Sure, I don't see why not."

"Maybe we could have a welcome home party for him" Angela enthused.

"It might be better to let him settle into things first Ang. He is remembering things, but it's slow. Right now he just has pieces with huge gaps missing. Like he can remember feeling the explosion and seeing Zach in the hospital but nothing in between and very little after, until after we were all back here going through Zach's stuff" she said quietly her eyes not quite meeting those of her friend.

Angela nodded slightly downtrodden. "Ok, so no party then. Maybe we should wait and do dinner at the diner in a few days. We don't want to overwhelm him. Can we still come visit after work?" she asked slightly hesitant.

"Of course. I didn't mean that seeing you all would be bad. I think it probably helps to see familiar faces and hear stories. I just don't think he's up to a party right now."

"Ok Bren. Tell Booth we'll stop by to see him later tonight." With that she gave Brennan a brief hug and left the office.

*~BONES~*

The rest of the night passed by quickly with the squints visiting for about another hour. Booth once again offered to share the bed with Bones when she started nodding off in the chair. Thinking back on the picture Angela had and the problems that might have caused, she was more reluctant than she had been the previous night. However looking at his almost pleading face and remembering how well she had slept after moving to the bed the previous night she consented.

The next morning the two sat in bed talking about plans for the rest of the day until a nurse came into the room with Booth's discharge papers. Once they were signed, Bones handed him the bag she had packed the previous day and sent him into the bathroom to clean up some and change. Half an hour later they were situated in his SUV driving to his apartment.

"Bones, why do you have my car?"

"Because when we left interrogation to come to the hospital I only had access to your car" she explained like she would explain the origin of a fracture on a bone.

"But that was a week ago!"

"I am aware of how long it has been. It did not make sense to arrange to change vehicles when I was spending most of my time at the hospital with you anyways. Besides, it has to be easier for you to get in and out of this than my car and there is more room. And we are going back to your apartment." Brennan nodded once feeling that she had adequately laid out her reasoning and it had no flaws. Of course she wouldn't, couldn't, tell Booth that another reason she was still driving his car was that it smelled like him and reminded her of him. The rest of the ride passed in a comfortable silence.

When they arrived at the apartment building, Brennan retrieved both her and Booth's bags from the trunk and lead the way to his apartment. Reaching the door, she fished out her keys and quickly found the right one to work the lock. By the time Booth had taken off his coat, she had already made herself at home, having removed her jacket and shoes and put the bags down in his room for the time being. He marveled that he could possibly have forgotten her when she was so at home in his space and looked so right there.

Booth sat down on the couch with the remote as Bones made her way to his kitchen. "Come on Bones, you don't have to cook. We can just order in" he called to her.

"It is really no trouble besides it is your first night out of the hospital, you should have a nice homemade meal" she called back to him. He muttered something in response, but the sound of the tv drowned it out.

Half an hour later Bones appeared by Booth's side with two plates of macaroni and cheese and two beers. Gratefully accepting the dish and beer Booth flashed back to another apartment and the first time they shared this particular dish. It was after they had solved a case involving a young chef, though her name escaped him for the moment. Bones had demonstrated her culinary skills in lieu of eating at the fancy restaurant. He smiled at the memory, incomplete as it may be, and dug in to the delicious dinner.

After dinner was finished, Bones took his plate and said something about doing dishes when another memory, this one painful for both of them, struck Booth. The intensity of emotion he was feeling at this particular memory, even before it really solidified in his mind, caused Booth to grab Bones' arm and remove the plates from her hands as he pulled her back down next to him. Brennan looked to him curiously but he looked unseeingly ahead. In his mind, Booth was seeing his usually calm and collected partner fall apart not only in front of him, which had happened a time or two, but also in front of Sweets. She was saying something about the water being so hot and the soap so slippery. He tried desperately to pull the pieces together himself because this was definitely not something he could ask her about and he needed to know about it now. "They locked me in a car trunk for two days" he could hear her say, her voice riddled with tears, "They warned me what would happen … But I didn't think it was fair … even though they warned me …". As the final pieces of the memory fell into place he broke from his revelry and pulled Bones into a hug and kissed the top of her head.

Brennan was surprised by the sudden shift in her partner. Just as quickly as he had been lost into his mind, he was back again and hugging her like his life depended on it. She tried desperately to figure out what was going on in this man's head. She thought back over the past few minutes and couldn't find anything she had said or done that would have triggered this behavior. Nevertheless, she hugged back almost as tight attempting to comfort him from whatever ghost it was that was haunting him now. Only after he kissed the top of her head and whispered "It wasn't fair Bones" was she able to connect the dots. He was remembering what she had told him and Sweets about her foster parents! She knew that it had upset him, but she was surprised to find just how much this man was affected by something that had happened to her years before he had met her. Something she had successfully locked away in a little box until that night.

That night, the dishes were left on the counter and coffee table where they had been and the two made their way to bed.

Booth only had one spare room, Parker's, and the bed there was not really large enough for her to sleep on and he refused to allow her to sleep on the couch, so for the third night in a row the two partners shared a bed. Despite the obvious excess of room available in the king size bed over the hospital bed, the two slept right next to each other as they had the previous two nights. This night, however, their routine was changed when they shared a brief, tired kiss before drifting off to sleep.

*~BONES~*

When Booth awoke the next morning, he was momentarily disappointed to find the bed empty. The disappointment was short lived however, when the smell of coffee and bacon reached his nose. Now smiling, he got out of bed and walked out to the kitchen to find Bones standing at the stove,_ his_ stove, making bacon and eggs. Deciding to take a big chance, Booth stealthily made his way across the room and wrapped his arms around her waist.

At first Brennan stiffened, but as she realized who it was and remembered the kiss from the night before, she relaxed into his body and smiled back at him over her shoulder. "Good morning Booth. How are you feeling?"

"Right about now I feel great" he joked momentarily tightening his grip on her.

She laughed before pushing him away and instructing him to get them some plates. He reluctantly agreed and within five minutes the two were sitting at the table with breakfast and coffee.

"I thought we could stop in at the lab some time later today. Maybe even stop by your office and go see Sweets. I have some files I need to drop off with Cam" Brennan casually mentioned between bites of eggs.

"Sure. It might help to see the lab, but do we _have _to see Sweets?"

"I think it might help. He is a lot better at understanding how the mind works than I am. He will probably be better equipped to help you regain your memory than me."

He shook his head at her simple, rational answer. "Fine, we can go see Sweets too" he acquiesced.

Bones was slightly disappointed by his answer but couldn't figure out why. He had agreed with her. That should make her happy not disappoint her. Then it occurred to her that they had not had an argument since this whole thing began and she missed fighting with him. She had secretly hoped that he would argue the point a little longer just to regain a sense of normalcy in the relationship. Sighing she sent Booth to get ready for the day and she did the dishes from that morning and the night before.

*~BONES~*

Around 10:30 she pulled the SUV into Booth's regular spot outside the Jeffersonian and led the way to the Medico-Legal lab being careful to discretely keep an eye on her partner. As he walked through the automatic door for the lab, his mind was flooded with a swarm of memories spanning years and all jumbled together. He almost took a physical step back from the onslaught. Noticing this, Bones laid a gentle hand on his arm and led him quickly to her office before setting him down on her couch and closing the door. She silently sat next to him and waited for him to sort out what was going on in her mind.

He was the first to speak. "Thanks Bones. It just all kind of came at me at once you know?" he asked, although he seemed to be speaking more to himself than to her.

"I'm sorry, I should have waited to bring you here. It was too much too soon."

"No Bones, this was good. Remembering is good. It just gets a little overwhelming at times. But remembering a lot at once has to be better than remembering hardly anything right?"

She studied his face carefully for a moment or two before finally conceding that he was probably right and would be fine. "If you say so. Maybe we should wait and go to your office another day though. I don't want to overload your brain."

"Maybe. Let's just see how this goes, ok? Then we can talk about whether or not to go to the Hoover building."

Standing she nodded before moving to the door. "I have to go find Cam. Do you want to stay here or would you rather come with me?"

"I'll come with you" he announced, standing as well and striding over to her side. As they walked through the door, his hand found its way to the small of her back.

They found Cam in a relatively small room off to the side from the main lab platform. As he walked into the room and observed Cam working a conversation came back to him. Cam asked what would happen if Dr. Brennan left the Jeffersonian. At first he tried to make a joke about the squints running out of the place. Then in a more serious tone of voice he informed her "I'm with Bones Cam, all the way. Don't doubt that for a second."

Returning to the present he was impressed at how well the two got along now. They would never be best friends, but they were _friendly_ towards each other at least. No sooner had he processed that thought than Cam directed her attention from Bones to him.

"How's it going Seeley? Brennan said you're starting to remember things."

"Yeah, I remember some things. Being here is helping, I think. It should just be a matter of time."

"Good" she announced before turning her attention to the black man standing in the door way. "Yes Mr. Edison? What do you need?"

"I heard Dr. Brennan was in and wondered if she could look at something for me" Clark said.

"Sure Clark. I will be right there" Brennan answered as she started towards the door.

"Hi Agent Booth, it's god to see you again."

"Yeah you too" Booth said not quite able to place this face. As he and Bones followed the young man, Clark Bones had called him, he leaned into her ear and whispered "Who's he?"

Bones looked up at him for a moment with her head tilted to the side as if trying to find the best way to answer the question. "He is a grad student that is on a rotation here in Zach's place" she finally whispered back.

"I … didn't he have something to do with your father's trial?" he asked as he finally managed to place the image in his mind.

"Yes, he was the anthropologist for the defense in my father's case" she answered before turning her full attention to the bones laid out before them on the table and asking in a louder voice, "So what did you want me to see?"

*~BONES~*

Half an hour later the partners were heading out of the building and to the diner for lunch. Booth had talked with Angela, Hodgins and Cam while Bones had examined whatever bone anomaly Clark had found and helped him explain the probable origins of them.

Booth marveled at how great a teacher she really was. Bones was not one to coddle or give away praise. Her students had to earn any praise they got from her, but that made it all the more rewarding to win. And she was good at helping lead her students to the answers they already knew but either had not reached yet or were not confident enough to say aloud.

Watching her with Clark brought back memories he probably hadn't really given any heed to before. Instead of the man that was standing across the table from her, he saw a shaggy haired kid with eyes almost too big for his head muddling through reasonings behind his conclusions and triumphantly shouting "King of the lab!"

"Booth, why are you staring at me?" Bones asked with a bemused smile on her lips.

Booth shook himself from his thoughts and muttered "Sorry Bones, I was just remembering. Are we ready to go now? I'm starving."

*~BONES~*

Sitting in what Bones called 'our table', more memories flooded Booth's already confused mind. Sweets wearing an elf hat, giving Bones a Brainy Smurf figurine, talking to a teenage boy about the kind of man he would grow up to be, sitting there with Cam when he got the call from the Gravedigger, talking to Bones about 'breaking the laws of physics', 'not talking' to Bones about how to help her father's case, talking to Jared about going to India …

For the most part, the two ate silently. Occasionally she would snag a fry from his plate or he would sneak a crouton from her salad. They didn't need to talk. They were both content to dwell in their own thoughts secure in mere fact that the other was there. The familiarity of the silence was comforting to both after the events of the past week and they reveled in it. Eventually though, the food finished and the check came. The argument over who would pay was the first time in almost twenty minutes that either of them had spoken. It too was comfortable in its familiarity though, so neither minded dragging it out longer than absolutely necessary. It was moments like these that assured the two that everything was not lost or broken beyond repair. There was still a way to put the pieces back together and everything would be ok.

*~BONES~*

**Author's Note****: Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it and this third part of the series lived up to the others. I don't know if I should continue this series or not. If I do I will probably skip ahead at least a couple of weeks. Let me know what you think about continuing and how I should, if I do. If anyone has ideas they think should be included, let me know. Oh, and is the end too sappy? It seems kinda sappy to me, but oh well.**


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